For every complicated problem, there’s a simple solution that’s wrong.  — paraphrase of H.L. Mencken

Embrace complexity

Simplicity can be wondrously elegant, but when it comes to thinking, it’s not the best.

Fifteen minutes with everyone

If you had fifteen minutes to speak to everyone in the world at the same time, what would you say?

Category busters

Many of the world’s most intractable problems stem from inflexible thinking and overly rigid generalizations.

Vital unexamined assumptions

Public policy debates often fail to analyze the assumptions that underlie conflict.

Ugly truths

It hurts to admit some of these things.

Radically centrist ideas

Much of our political gridlock stems from an inability or unwillingness to analyze and accept ideas on their merits. Extreme polarization has made some centrist ideas look downright radical.

Common mistakes

Contrary to popular belief. . . .

Redefining fundamentalism

It’s not about literalism or religion.

Beware of self-sealing systems

A “self‑sealing system” is an assumption that cannot be disproven because it can explain away any criticism directed at it.

Our favorite sound bites

Sound bites often oversimplify, to the detriment of nuanced thinking. But sometimes they distill great ideas and help spread them effectively.

Our assumptions

We try to practice what we preach. Here are some of our own assumptions.